A firefighter carries a hose while battling the Glass Fire in a Calistoga, Calif., vineyard on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Updated 5:54 pm ET
The staggering scale of California's wildfires reached another milestone Monday: A single fire surpassed 1 million acres.
The new mark for the August Complex in the Coast Range between San Francisco and the Oregon border came a day after the total area of land burned by California wildfires this year passed 4 million acres, more than double the previous record.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said the amount of land scorched by the August Complex is larger than all of the recorded fires in California between 1932 and 1999.
“If that’s not proof point, testament, to climate change, then I don’t know what is," Newsom said.
The August Complex began as dozens of fires ignited by lightning in the Mendocino National Forest in mid-August and became California's largest fire on record in September. As of Monday, it covered nearly 1,566 square miles (4,055 square kilometers).
Since the beginning of the year, more than 8,200 California wildfires have scorched “well over 4 million acres” or 6,250 square miles, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Sunday in a statement. There have been 31 deaths and nearly 8,700 buildings have been destroyed, the governor said.
Numerous studies have linked bigger wildfires in America to climate change from the burning of coal, oil, and gas. Scientists say climate change has made California much drier, meaning trees and other plants are more flammable.
Mike Flannigan, who directs the Canadian Partnership for Wildland Fire Science at Canada’s University of Alberta, says the escalation of fires in California and the U.S. West is “largely, not solely, due to human-caused climate change.”
The August Complex has destroyed 242 structures and damaged a half dozen. One firefighter has died and one has been injured. Containment was estimated at 54% on Monday.
California remains largely warm and dry but fierce winds that fanned infernos a week ago were gone. Cooling at the coast was expected to expand into the interior and a Pacific storm system remained in the forecast for Northern California by next weekend.
Authorities on Monday made public more information about the Sept. 17 death of Charles Morton, 39, a squad boss for the Big Bear Interagency Hotshot Crew battling the El Dorado Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest east of Los Angeles.
The U.S. Forest Service’s two-paragraph report released by the interagency Wildland Fire Lesson Learned Center states that “it appears he was burned over by the fire and passed away.”
The report dated Sept. 24 said a review team was conducting interviews with personnel “to learn from this tragic event.” It did not elaborate on the circumstances that claimed the life of the 14-year veteran.
The El Dorado Fire was ignited Sept. 5 by a pyrotechnic device a couple used for an event revealing the gender of their baby, authorities have said.
Chris Vecchio, senior analyst at DailyFX, joins Cheddar News to discuss what investors should watch as the three major indexes see wild swings all week.
On this episode of ChedHER: Avery Cyrus, one of TikTok's top LGBTQ creators discusses her partnership with Space Hero to become a citizen astronaut, and how she's using her platform on social media to give back; Boss Women Media Founder breaks down how she's empowering female entrepreneurs with 'Boss Business Showers;' Palmly Co-Founder explains how she's building a social networking app for Christians.
Rita Brooks, Co-Founder of Palmly, joins ChedHER to discuss how she's creating a social networking app for Christians, and her experience being a female founder in the tech industry.
Avery Cyrus, one of TikTok's top LGBTQ creators, joins ChedHER to discuss her partnership with Space Hero to become a citizen astronaut, and how she's using her platform on social media to give back.
A year after the r/WallStreetBets community on Reddit drove GameStop and other meme stocks to unprecedented heights, the subreddit seems to be losing its luster among retail investors. Caitlin McCabe, markets and retail trading reporter from The Wall Street Journal, joined Cheddar to talk about the waning popularity of the group “Users are going on to find the next GameStop, and instead, they're seeing many of the new users who have joined the subreddit still talking about GameStop and AMC," McCabe noted. "And, they've become frustrated as they're ready to move on from those original meme stocks."
Marty McDonald, Founder of Boss Women Media, joins ChedHER to discuss how she's empowering female entrepreneurs with 'Boss Business Showers,' and advice for turning your side hustle into a career.
Plant-based meat giant Beyond Meat's reign over the fast food world continues, as McDonald's announced that it is expanding its test of Beyond's McPlant burger, to nearly 600 restaurants, an increase from the eight that it's been testing in since November. This comes less than two weeks after Beyond Fried Chicken made its nationwide debut at KFC restaurants, the first time that plant based chicken has been widely distributed in a fast food capacity. Arun Sundaram, Senior Equity Analyst at CFRA Research explains why these latest collaborations may be proof that Beyond Meat products could slowly be becoming an unlikely staple in the fast food and chain restaurant world as consumers opt for more healthy food options.
Citi recently began collaborating with fitness entrepreneur Tracy Anderson to promote its Custom Cash Credit card. Pam Habner, CEO of U.S. Branded Cards for Citi, along with Tracy Anderson, creator of The Tracy Anderson Method, joined Cheddar to discuss how health and fitness matched up with a cash back credit card. "The fact that Citi is going 'hey if you lead a healthy lifestyle, we're going to help you out. We understand that it's more expensive and we're going to give you cash back for living your best life,'" Anderson said about the partnership, which also includes a custom promotional Spotify playlist.
Low-code app development platform Crowdbotics raised $22 million in a Series A funding round led by Jackson Square Ventures. Crowdbotics has helped more than 14,000 customers launch apps without having to learn how to code. The company can offer a team of expert developers to help companies launch custom apps, or provide the means for companies to develop apps themselves. Crowdbotics CEO Anand Kulkarni joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
